step

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. The single complete movement of raising one foot and putting it down in another spot, as in walking.

n. A manner of walking; a particular gait.

n. A fixed rhythm or pace, as in marching: keep step.

n. The sound of a footstep.

n. A footprint: steps in the mud.

n. The distance traversed by moving one foot ahead of the other.

n. A very short distance: just a step away.

n. Course; path: turned her steps toward home.

n. One of a series of rhythmical, patterned movements of the feet used in a dance: diagrammed the basic steps to the mambo.

n. A rest for the foot in ascending or descending.

n. Stairs.

n. Something, such as a ledge or an offset, that resembles a step of a stairway.

n. One of a series of actions, processes, or measures taken to achieve a goal.

n. A stage in a process: followed every step in the instructions.

n. A degree in progress or a grade or rank in a scale: a step up in the corporate hierarchy.

n. Music The interval that separates two successive tones of a scale.

n. Music A degree of a scale.

n. Nautical The block in which the heel of a mast is fixed.

intransitive v. To put or press the foot: step on the brake.

intransitive v. To shift or move slightly by taking a step or two: step back.

intransitive v. To walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified direction: step over to the corner.

intransitive v. To move with the feet in a particular manner: step lively.

intransitive v. To move into a new situation by or as if by taking a single step: stepping into a life of ease.

intransitive v. To treat someone with arrogant indifference: He is always stepping on other people.

transitive v. To put or set (the foot) down: step foot on land.

transitive v. To measure by pacing: step off ten yards.

transitive v. To furnish with steps; make steps in: terraces that are stepped along the hillside.

transitive v. Computer Science To cause (a computer) to execute a single instruction.

transitive v. Nautical To place (a mast) in its step.

step aside To resign from a post, especially when being replaced.

step down To resign from a high post.

step down To reduce, especially in stages: stepping down the electric power.

step in To enter into an activity or a situation.

step in To intervene.

step out To walk briskly.

step out To go outside for a short time.

step out Informal To go out for a special evening of entertainment.

step out To withdraw; quit.

step up To increase, especially in stages: step up production.

step up To come forward: step up and be counted.

step up To improve one's performance or take on more responsibility, especially at a crucial time.

idiom in step Moving in rhythm.

idiom in step In conformity with one's environment: in step with the times.

idiom out of step Not moving in rhythm: recruits marching out of step.

idiom out of step Not in conformity with one's environment: out of step with the times.

idiom step by step By degrees.

idiom step on it Informal To go faster; hurry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. An advance or movement made from one foot to the other; a pace.

n. A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a rung of a ladder.

n. A running board where passengers step to get on and off the bus.

n. The space passed over by one movement of the foot in walking or running. Used also figuratively of any kind of progress.

n. A small space or distance.

n. A print of the foot; a footstep; a footprint; track.

n. A gait; manner of walking.

n. Proceeding; measure; action; act.

n. A walk; passage.

n. : A portable framework of stairs, much used indoors in reaching to a high position.

n. A framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specif., a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast.

n. One of a series of offsets, or parts, resembling the steps of stairs, as one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs

n. A bearing in which the lower extremity of a spindle or a vertical shaft revolves.

n. The interval between two contiguous degrees of the scale.

n. A change of position effected by a motion of translation. - William Kingdon Clifford

v. To move the foot in walking; to advance or recede by raising and moving one of the feet to another resting place, or by moving both feet in succession.

v. To walk; to go on foot; especially, to walk a little distance.

v. To walk slowly, gravely, or resolutely.

v. To move mentally; to go in imagination.

v. To set, as the foot.

v. (nautical) To fix the foot of (a mast) in its step; to erect.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. An advance or movement made by one removal of the foot; a pace.

n. A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a round of a ladder.

n. The space passed over by one movement of the foot in walking or running. Used also figuratively of any kind of progress.

n. A small space or distance.

n. A print of the foot; a footstep; a footprint; track.

n. Gait; manner of walking.

n. Proceeding; measure; action; an act.

n. Walk; passage.

n. A portable framework of stairs, much used indoors in reaching to a high position.

n. In general, a framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specif., a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast.

n.

n. One of a series of offsets, or parts, resembling the steps of stairs, as one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs.

n. A bearing in which the lower extremity of a spindle or a vertical shaft revolves.

n. The intervak between two contiguous degrees of the csale.

n. A change of position effected by a motion of translation.

n. At Eton College, England, a shallow step dividing the court into an inner and an outer portion.

intransitive v. To move the foot in walking; to advance or recede by raising and moving one of the feet to another resting place, or by moving both feet in succession.

intransitive v. To walk; to go on foot; esp., to walk a little distance.

intransitive v. To walk slowly, gravely, or resolutely.

intransitive v. Fig.: To move mentally; to go in imagination.

transitive v. To set, as the foot.

transitive v. To fix the foot of (a mast) in its step; to erect.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

To move the legs and feet as in walking; advance or recede by a movement of the foot or feet: as, to step forward; to step backward: to step up or down.

To go; walk; march; especially, to go a short distance: as, to step to a neighbor's house.

To advance as if by chance or suddenly; come (in).

To walk slowly, gravely, or with dignity.

To go in imagination; advance or recede mentally: as, to step back to the England of Elizabeth.

To deviate from the right path; err.

To set; plant, as in stepping: as, step your foot on this thwart; he has never stepped foot in the city.

To measure by stepping: as, to step off the distance.

To perform by stepping, as a dance: as, he stepped a stately galliard.

To place or set (two or more cutting-tools) in a tool-post or -rest in such manner that they simultaneously make successive cuts each respectively deeper than the preceding one, so that these cuts present the appearance of a series of ledges or steps.

Nautical, to fix the foot of (a mast) in its step, as in readiness for setting sail.

In electricity, to raise or lower (the voltage of an alternating-current circuit) by means of transformers: see to step up and to step down.

n. A pace; a completed movement made in raising the foot and setting it down again, as in walking, running, or dancing.

n. Hence In the plural, walk; passage; course or direction in which one goes by walking.

n. A support for the foot in ascending or descending: as, steps cut in a glacier; a structure or an appliance used to facilitate mounting from one level to another, whether alone or as one of a series: as, a stone step (a block of stone having a horizontal surface for the foot); a step of a staircase (one of the gradients composed of the tread and riser taken together); the step of a ladder (one of the rungs or rounds, or one of the treads or foot-pieces in a step-ladder).

n. Specifically— plural A step-ladder. Also called pair of steps and set of steps.

n. A foot-piece for entering or alighting from a vehicle.

n. The space passed over or measured by one movement of the foot, as in walking; the distance between the feet in walking when both feet are on the ground; a half-pace.

n. An inconsiderable space; a short distance; a distance easily walked.

n. Gradation; degree.

n. Degree in progress or advance; particularly, a forward move; gain or advantage; promotion; rise; a grade, as of rank.

n. Print or impression of the foot; footprint; footstep; track.

n. Gait; manner of walking; sound of the step; foot; footfall: as, to hear a step at the door.

n. A proceeding, or one of a series of proceedings; measure; action: as, a rash step; to take prompt steps to prevent something.

n. Nautical, a socket of wood or metal, or, in large ships, a solid platform on the keelson, supporting the heel of a mast.

n. In carpentry, any piece of timber having the foot of another fixed upright in it.

n. In much.: The lower brass of a journal-box or pillow-block.

n. A socket or bearing for the lower pivot of a spindle or vertical shaft.

n. In music: Same as degree, whether of the scale or of the staff.

n. The interval between two successive degrees of the scale, degrees of the staff, or keys of the keyboard.

n. With equal pace; at the same rate of progress.

n. A prefix used in composition before father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, child, etc., to indicate that the person spoken of is a connection only by the marriage of a parent.

n. In machinery: The radial distance on a cone or step-pulley of a machine between the belt-face on one diameter and the belt-face on the next larger or smaller. Twice the step is the difference in the diameters of the successive belt-surfaces. In England also called the fall.

"And then her voice began _to drop down_, as it were, _from step to step_, -- and _the steps seemed cold and damp, as it went down them lingeringly_: -- 'or for trial, -- disappointment, -- whatever comes!'

"This is the first she ever heard of the word 'step and repeat' in her entire life," said Mr. Mizrahi, indicating the nun standing next to him, Good Shepherd's executive director Sister Paulette LoMonaco.